ERIC Number: ED290065
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1987-Aug
Pages: 10
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Subclassification of School Phobic Disturbances.
Atkinson, Leslie; And Others
The confusion surrounding all aspects of school refusal may rest partly on the misguided assumption that the disturbance represents a single syndrome. Five consistently emerging variables which may help distinguish among school phobic types were abstracted from the literature: extensiveness of disturbance, mode of onset, age, fear source, and gender. This study was conducted to determine empirically if and how these dimensions relate to one another and to examine the issue of school refusal representing one syndrome. Data from clinical records of 100 school refusers were subjected to a variety of analyses, culminating in cluster analysis. Three school phobic subtypes emerged, reliably grouping 72 of the subjects. Cluster (C) 1 consisted of 15 children who feared separation from dependent, overprotective mothers. C2 consisted of 28 children who were perfectionistic and depressed. They dominated their mothers who had been deprived in childhood. C3 consisted of 29 extensively disturbed children from multiproblem families, who had suffered early separation or loss, and who were fearful and depressed. These findings have direct ramifications for treatment. (Author/NB)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A